Actions by poorly trained subcontract workers hired by a contractor, in violation of a construction contract, led to a deadly November 2012 explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, according to an investigation commissioned by oil platform operator Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC.

Three workers were killed in the Nov. 16, 2012, explosion, which ignited on Black Elk’s West Delta 32 oil platform 17 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La. Two other workers were injured but survived. Each of them was employed by DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, a company based in the Philippines that contractor Grand Isle Shipyard hired as a subcontractor to perform construction work on the platform.

According to a statement from Black Elk released Wednesday morning, Grand Isle had committed in its contract that the company would not use subcontractors on the project. Furthermore, Black Elk said it wasn’t notified that subcontractors would be performing any of the work, which involved welding on pipe that was connected to tanks containing oil and flammable vapors.

The eight-month investigation by Houston-based ABS Consulting found that the workers were welding a flange on an open pipe that lead to an oil tank, which had not been isolated to be safe for welding, as Black Elk’s work practices require.

“Flammable vapors in the piping ignited and within seconds, reached the first oil tank and then two connected tanks,” the report said.

The report said that on the day of the explosion, Black Elk’s safety procedures and “hot work” permit requirements were not followed. A permit for “hot work” is necessary for grinding and welding activities that can produce sparks.

In conducting its investigation, ABS reviewed thousands of documents and records, collected and preserved evidence, and performed fire and explosion modeling of the incident.

“A serious issue in this case was Grand Isle’s apparent failure to provide proper safety training and appropriate supervision,” Black Elk CEO John Hoffman said in the statement.

Previously, federal agents with the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board subpoenaed records from both Black Elk and Grand Isle.

However, this report seems to shift blame to the contractor. Black Elk CEO John Hoffman was not immediately available for comment.

HBJ research found in December that Black Elk was one of more than a dozen Houston energy companies operating in the Gulf that had been penalized by the bureau for safety violations.

Representatives of the federal agencies weren’t immediately available for comment on the status of those investigations.

In 2011, Grand Isle was sued in federal court on human trafficking allegations by Filipino workers employed for work in the U.S.

Court documents allege the workers’ “contracts were procured through fraud and misrepresentation.”

There is a gag order on the case, which precludes parties and their lawyers from commenting on the case. Attorney David Kornsaid in a statement in February that the allegations against Grand Isle are “totally false.”

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